The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-07-07

| ne groom WAS Still mere W w tduNibV''
| several years ago. After his re-
turn TO China he became tired of
home and at the first opportunity ran away,
and finally reached New Haven. He again
entered in the class of 1887, and greatly
distinguished himself throughout his college
course This wedding is the first case on
record in New Haven where a Yankee girl
! has married ChinamalI, and the event ex-
! cites considerable comment. After wed
! ding trip to Narragansett Pier the pair will
reside in New Haven, the groom intending
TO enter the journalistic field.
FACTS ABOUT YAM PHoN LEES LIFE.
A dispatch from Now Haven, Conn, to
| the New York Herald says II am going to
stay in the United States and do as much
good for my race as possibly can, said
| Van Phon Lee, the young Chinese graduate
of Yale whose manly and eloquent grafton
| at commencement Yesterday on The Other
Side of the Chinese Question, brought forth
much merited applause.
| Van Phon Lee was found i'll his room at
! No 80 North Middle College. He dresses
| in n suit of navy blue flannel and is as
neatly and Hastily arrayed as a West Point
cadet He long since discarded his queue
| His is very tidy apartment, and the ar
rangcment of pictures and other articles of
bric-a-brac indicates well cultivated and
aesthetic taste.
LEARNING ENGLISH WHILE YOUNG.
yam Phon Lee greeted the correspondent
warmly, and gave short sketch of his life
in answer to inquiries substantially as fol
lows: when was II years of age, in the
year 1878, came from China to the United
States, and became an inmate of an Ameri-
can family in Springfield Mass. | studied
hard to perfect myself in the English Ian
guage and succeeded very fairly. | was
quite young when began to study. and it
ought not to be difficult for any one to ac
quire any languagei if any one begins young.
| stayed with my friends in Springfield five
years, and as my father had been business
man in China and my grandfather was the
literary chancellor in a large educational
institution | wanted to acquire good edu-
cation. In fact, my grandfather occupied
the Same position where he lived as PreSi-
dent Dwight, OF Yale, does here in New
Haven So | came to the Hopkins Gram
mar School in 1878, when | was II years of
age, and for two years | studied hard, and
was rewarded by being made the valedictO-
rian of my class. There were twenty-five
other students in the graduating class.
ORDERED HOME.
"Then concluded that | would go to
Yale College in 1881, but ut that time, you
will remember, the Chinese government re
called all the young Cinnamon who were
attending schools and colleges i'll the United
States We all had TO go home or the con-
sequences would have have been grave
probably | went home and was placed in
the naval school of China. | was there
about six months when | took French leave
and finally managed to reach Hong Kong,
where | found myself under the protecti on
of the English flag Then for two years |
padded my own canoe in the best way |
could managed to get place in the law
Office of Sharp Toller a johnson, at Hong
Kong, which is an English colony. There
are quite a number of Americans who re-
| side there and transact business. | man
aged to support myself by teaching and by
acting as translator, sometimes doing this
| for the court. Mr.. Sharp was the Crown
| Solicitor. | was in Hong Kong for about
! two years, when got chance to come to
| America, and then determined to complete
| my education at Yale and have very for
| tunately managed to pull through"
"What are your plans for the future, Mr..
Lee"
TO BECOME A NEWSPAPER MAN.
well / am going to take post graduate
course for year and study with special ref
| erence to journalism. | believe that | can
do rs much for the advancement of my
| countrymen in that way as any other.
| feel, though, that the schools and courses of
| journalism do not give person that prac-
tical knowledge which every aspiring news
paper man desires"
"Why don't you pitch in, Mr.. Lee, and
! join the staff of some paper"
II have not thought much about it, and
10 not know that | could. However, may
| see my way clear in that direction in the
| future. While at college | have written
| some few articles, and have lectured on
Chinese customs. have delivered, perhaps,
| 100 lectures in New York, Pennsylvania and
| in the New England States"
ALWAYS WELL TREATED
Did you ever have any trouble with the
| Yale students, or did you ever experience
| from them any demonstrations of caste or
race prejudiceg
Never. have always been treated with
| perfect courtesy, and have never received
any treatment from them that was unpleas-
ant or disorderly. They never regarded me
otherwise than an equal, and | shall always
| remember my four years career at Yale
| University with pleasure"
| In regard to his lecture yesterday yam
| Phon Lee said II felt that it was a good
| time TO speak for my people and to give
| what | honestly believe to be the other side
| of the Chinese question. There is a great
deal of misunderstanding among the Ameri
can people about China. While | intend &c
he an American to all intents and purposes
| and mean to he naturalized by sort OF
special dispensation, if possible, yet | love
my native land. China is much more demo
cratic than might be supposed. There any
deserving young man can work his way
from the lowest round of the ladder up t
the Prime Minister if he has good luck. AND
j shall try TO educate myself i'll law and pc
litical economy III my postgraduate course
My wish and desire is to be of advantage L
my countrymen.'
yam Phon Lee is rather small and slight
and weighs about lis pounds He is a
1.-THE and straight as an Indian and us quicl
as a cat. He has very pleasant expression
of countenance and bright black eve II,
always looks one directly in the face, ant
his address is Of the most pleasing kind
Not one of the nearly 1000 students in Val,
can be found who dislike Van Phon Lee
either personally or because of his IA
tionality. He has among all who know hin
the reputation of being man of the strict
est honor and integrity. He is honest an,
straightforward, and his word IS not TO b
questioned President Dwight and severa
of the professors of Yale this morning salt
in substance that the university was prou,
of the young Chinaman.